After a successful stint in journalism, Ignacio Blanco gained a wealth of transferable skills which helped him start a career in marketing, plus the ability to identify the importance of storytelling across industries.

Ignacio is now marketing manager for SFx Smart Manufacturing at Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence where he is responsible for B2B marketing campaigns, bridging the gap between technicalities and emphasising the story behind branding to relevant customers. 

Shaheen Samavati interviews Ignacio in today’s episode, touching on original methods to source and create new content, such as webinars and co-marketing. Moreover, Ignacio provides vital information on tailoring content for specific audiences in the B2B industry.

You can watch the full conversation in the video above or on YouTube, and listen to the podcast on Apple or Spotify.

Rapid-fire recs  

  • Productivity hack: Concept maps. “I always predefine a concept map for every single project. I play with ideas and actions, I move the elements and ask ‘Does this make sense?’ I try to attend calls with a clear diagram that I share during meetings so we can adapt the concepts and by the end of the call the whiteboard has evolved towards something more specific with clear takeaways for everyone.”
  • Event: CES in Las Vegas. “The show itself is about consumer electronics—so it’s not marketing related—but they had a great agenda on marketing, content creation and storytelling and really great workshops around the show in different buildings.” Publication: Harvard Business Review and Fast Company. “They’re not just all about business. They have really great insights on creativity, innovation and social media leadership.”
  • Software tool: Miro. “It’s a collaboration software tool which is basically like an advanced online whiteboard. I like it because you can outline very complex ideas and processes. It’s really a great tool for project management and mind mapping.”

“When you want to focus on marketing and content creation, approach it as a cross functional role. Keep up to date when it comes to trends and learn about things which may be completely different. It’s not just enough that you are a good copywriter or know about SEO, digital marketing, adverts, etc.—you need to complement it.”

Connect with Ignacio and Shaheen on LinkedIn.

This post was edited by Jessica Farmer


For more insights into storytelling in B2B marketing:

Storytelling sells – Michael Lonnon, UK-based master of marketing

B2B content is about storytelling – Evgeni Hristov, marketing manager at Tradin Organic in Amsterdam

Tell the story of your brand – Alexandra Hinz, social media team lead at Victorinox

To see the full transcript, click on page number 2 below.